Say goodbye to UT’s burnt orange shuttles this week

UPDATE: Hopefully you got to take one last, bumpy turn on one of UT’s burnt orange shuttle buses (which have been around since 1998) before Cap Metro officially retired the last one Tuesday. According to the Daily Texan, the upgrade to “high-tech” blue buses was completed last week.

The color change of the new buses is intended to “help eliminate confusion for passengers between UT Shuttle buses and normal local Capital Metro buses.”

EARLIER: If you’ve spent any length of time on the Forty Acres, you’ve likely spent some time on Forty Acres — the shuttle bus route, that is.

(Brian K. Diggs/American-Statesman file photo)

The University of Texas at Austin’s network of free campus shuttle buses is one of the largest systems of its kind in the country, with 10 routes and more than 5.2 million passengers each year, according to UT Parking and Transportation Services. But one of the shuttles’ other chief distinctions, their signature burnt orange paint job, is going the way of the dodo this week, according to Capital Metro on Twitter.

Don’t worry; the shuttles aren’t going away entirely. Capital Metro started phasing out the burnt orange buses in April, according to the Daily Texan. The public transportation agency is replacing them with new buses that match Austin’s standard branding and colors. According to the Texan:

“The current fleet of UT shuttle buses have been running since 1998, according to according to Hanna De Hoyos, Capital Metro communications specialist. Capital Metro has been planning on replacing the shuttles for the past five years but has been delayed.”

On Twitter, Capital Metro encouraged fans of the school-spirited bus lines to share their pictures of the old shuttles before they’re all gone. So, in the spirit of hyper-specific nostalgia and autumnal color schemes, start posting.